Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian

Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian

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Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian
Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian
Judd Apatow on the power of overdelivering and stakes

Judd Apatow on the power of overdelivering and stakes

Don't be a d*ck + overdeliver = people will want you around. Plus more Apatow wisdom.

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Matt Ruby
Feb 28, 2025
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Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian
Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian
Judd Apatow on the power of overdelivering and stakes
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Judd Apatow on the power of overdelivering (via JS):

Good drama doesn't make an audience erupt aloud the way comedy does. Apatow explains in this interview:

“We feel the movie's working when it's getting laughs, but that's actually not true,” said Apatow, who turned 45 Thursday. “The audience is actually following the drama, and sometimes we have to think hard and go: ‘It's OK that they're not laughing here because this is a heartfelt moment or a devastating moment.' It's still not my strongest suit understanding all of that. I always say I wish there was a noise people made that let me know that drama was working.”


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It’s okay for a lead to be unsympathetic in the quest for some greater truth.

“I like when people don't try so hard to obsess over likability,” Apatow said. “I wanted it to be balanced. I wanted Pete and Debbie to have an equal amount of good qualities and bad qualities. But it was helpful working with Lena Dunham on ‘Girls' (the HBO series that Apatow executive-produces) while I was working on this, because she doesn't care at all if you like her character. It just doesn't even occur to her that that's part of what you factor in. And so just talking about the script with her — and she's such a great cheerleader of this film — put me in a good frame of mind to not polish things up.”

Judd Apatow Is Still an Optimist | The New Yorker

Apatow on what’s healthy about being a comedian and what’s demented about it:

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